Two-time Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Year Ryan Aplin is in his fourth year as at Georgia Southern. Aplin, who most recently spent the 2021 season as the running backs coach at Arkansas State, is in his second year as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after serving the previous two seasons as the tight ends and inside receivers coach as well as the pass game coordinator for Clay Helton’s offensive staff.
Aplin took over the Eagle offense in 2024 and put his mark on the squad quickly. Jalen White scored 13 rushing touchdowns and JC French set the school record for completion percentage in a season as four players went on to earn all-conference honors.
The 2022 season was a record-breaking one for Aplin as he helped transform the Eagle offense into an aerial threat. Georgia Southern broke just about every passing record under all-conference quarterback Kyle Vantreese, who finished the year with 4,253 passing yards and 27 touchdowns. Three receivers had over 700 yards apiece, including Khaleb Hood who broke the school’s single-season receptions (87) and yardage (925) marks.Â
In 2023, the Eagle passing offense was once again stout as it finished in the top 20 nationally in passing yards per game. Hood set just about every receiving record in the books, breaking his own marks from 2022 and Jjay Mcafee posted a new school record for catches in a season by a tight end. Both players earned all-conference honors from various outlets.
At Arkansas State, where he led the Red Wolves to conference titles in 2011 and 2012 as a player, he coached the running backs in 2021. Prior to returning to his alma mater, he was the co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Western Kentucky.
Following his playing career at A-State, Aplin made coaching stops at Auburn (2014-15), North Alabama (2016, 2018-19), UT Chattanooga (2018-19), WKU (2020) and Arkansas State (2021).
Aplin’s lone season with the Hilltoppers saw him help lead the program to an appearance in the LendingTree Bowl while serving as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach.
Prior to WKU, Aplin was North Alabama’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2018 and 2019. In his final season, UNA averaged 285 passing yards per game as the team eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark over the 11-game season. Quarterback Christian Lopez targeted many different options with four different wide receivers posting at least 25 receptions, 550 yards and two touchdowns.
North Alabama assembled a 7-3 record in the program’s first season competing at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level in 2018, the first year of Aplin’s second stint with program. The Lions mastered four fourth-quarter come-from-behind wins, while the team set a school record with the fewest turnovers in a season in school history with just nine. Lopez also set a school individual record by throwing 253 consecutive passes without an interception.
Aplin was previously North Alabama’s wide receivers coach in 2016, then took a position as the wide receivers coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2017. The Lions’ 2016 campaign saw them compile an 11-2 record, claim the Gulf South Conference and Super Region 2 championships and advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship game.
Prior to his first stop at UNA, Aplin served as a graduate assistant coach at Auburn for two years from 2014-15 while earning a master’s degree in adult education. He spent the 2013 season as a football administrative assistant at Ole Miss.
A Tampa, Florida, native, Aplin was twice named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2011 and 2012 when the Red Wolves won back-to-back league titles. The three-time first-team all-conference player was also MVP of the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl. The former quarterback still holds the school records for career total offense (12,514 yards), completions (906) and passing yards (10,758), while his 67 touchdown passes stand as the second most.
Aplin earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Arkansas State University in 2012.
He is married to the former Victoria Price of Fleming Island, Florida, and they have two sons, Maverick and Hawkins, and two daughters, Naomi and Ivy.
THE APLIN FILE
Personal
Hometown: Tampa, Fla.
Born: May 8, 1990 in Tampa, Fla.
College: Arkansas State (2012); Auburn (2015)
Family: wife, Victoria; sons, Maverick, Hawkins; daughters, Naomi, Ivy
Playing Experience
Arkansas State (2008-12)
Coaching Experience
2024-: Georgia Southern (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks)
2022-23: Georgia Southern (tight ends/inside receivers/pass game coordinator)
2021: Arkansas State (running backs)
2020: Western Kentucky (co-offensive coordinator/running backs)
2018-19: North Alabama (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks)
2017: Chattanooga (wide receivers)
2016: North Alabama (wide receivers)
2014-15: Auburn (G.A.)
2013: Ole Miss (intern)
College Bowl/Postseason Experience
Coach
2024: New Orleans (GS vs. Sam Houston)
2023: Myrtle Beach (GS vs. Ohio)
2022: Camellia (GS vs. Buffalo)
2020: LendingTree (WKU vs. Georgia State)
2016: NCAA Division II National Title Game
2015: Birmingham (Auburn vs. Memphis)
2014: Outback (Auburn vs. Wisconsin)
Player
2012: GoDaddy.com (A-State vs. Kent State)
2011: GoDaddy.com (A-State vs. Northern Illinois)
Prominent Pupils
Sammie Coates (WR): Pittsburgh Steelers
Evan Engram (TE): Jacksonville Jaguars
Ricardo Louis (WR): Cleveland Browns
Nick Marshall (QB): Jacksonville Jaguars
La’Quan Treadwell (WR): Jacksonville Jaguars
CJ Uzomah (TE): New York Jets
Bo Wallace (QB): Kansas City Chiefs
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